Student Leadership Experience - Conference Grant Recipient Reflection by Maya Leszkowski

Student Leadership Experience

Submitted by: 2019 Student Leadership Conference Grant Recipient: Maya Leszkowski

As a becoming teacher, leadership is an unspoken characteristic that is
necessary to be a great educator. My first through when I hear the word “leadership” is
a person who is in charge, takes control of a room and is a natural at being a leader.
Upon attending the SLE, I never thought of myself as a leader. Although my profession
requires a certain degree of leadership to lead a classroom, however; I didn’t think of
myself as a leader as I usually keep to myself and don't find myself often leading a
group of people that are not children within a classroom. During this experience each
group had to come up with a group name that was related to their group colour. My
colour was blue, the name we came up with was “blue wave” with a slogan, “creating
ripples”. Our reasoning behind being a blue wave and the slogan relating to creating
ripples was because of what our group believed leadership is. The definition of
leadership to us was the ability to have an affect on others and share these abilities of
kindness, humbleness, being able to listen and think critically.

At the SLE, I learnt that I in fact am a leader. I discovered that leaders are not
only people who can naturally take control of a group of people or a situation. A leader
is someone who can listen, provide advice or opinions and most of all grow as an
individual. At the SLE I took part in activities that were outside of my comfort zone.
Activities such as canoeing blindfolded, rafting up to twelve canoes together in the
water, doing a high ropes course and working with a group of strangers on trust building
activities.Many of the activities that we took part in were focused around health and
physical education and were held outside. Being outside and getting active played a
role in my ability to reflect and keep an open mind. With the activities we did and time
we took to reflect I was able to disconnect from my everyday life as a student and focus
on how to better myself and be able to reflect on the experiences I was having.

Through these activities and many more I was able to discover the activities that
are needed to be a good leader. Including the realization of my strengths as a leader
and how I can use my strengths in my future career. As a future teacher I would like to
help students realize their potential as individuals. After attending the SLE I myself was
able to gain confidence in myself. I would like to be able to give students the same
experience within my classroom, to gain confidence in themselves and to recognize
their strengths and use those to become a leader.

Best Practices to Support Mental Health for Children and Youth… Toxic and Tolerable Stress: Developing Healthy Coping Strategies

Best Practices to Support Mental Health for Children and Youth… Toxic and Tolerable Stress: Developing Healthy Coping Strategies

Part 4 of a 4 Part Series

Submitted by: Stacey Hannay, HPEC Comprehensive School Health

The future of any society depends on its ability to foster the healthy development of the next generation and our classrooms can be this perfect storm. As teachers we often hear children/students in the halls echo “I am so stressed out”, or “I am freaking out”, which can be some of the telltale signs, however, approximately 1 in 5 Canadian children are affected by a mental health issue, stress being top of that list, and sometimes going completely unnoticed.

Extensive research on the biology of stress now shows that healthy development can be derailed by excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in the body and brain. Such toxic stress can have damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health across the lifespan. So what is a teacher to do? As caregivers to our students for a large portion of their developmental years what resources best fit the bill?

As the final succession of our four part series, we will open up the notion of ‘confidence’ in teaching, exploring factors that contribute to mental health and wellness; the journey into being a student’s greatest mental health asset. This series will walk teachers through the use of strategies that promote mental health and wellness, starting with the different types of stress and how some stress can be helpful in building children’s/student’s resiliency and future success.

As we close this series, I would like to thank Priscilla Asamoah (MEd, RPC) from Alberta Health Services (AHS) in our rich discussions on “best practices” for teachers’ in their passage to unpacking and supporting mental health for students. Should you wish to delve deeper into some of the other comprehensive school health topics covered in AHS’s caregiver series, I would strongly encourage you to checkout their Mental Health Literacy Series.

Harvard Center for the Developing Child (2017):

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/

Teen Mental Health:

http://teenmentalhealth.org/care/educators/

Mental Health Literacy Series: https://www.cyfcaregivereducation.ca/videos

Toxic and Tolerable Stress: Developing Healthy Coping Strategies

Caregiver Handout:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BQrGgWLwzyBufKawVa-KX98C-CO09eC3/view

Video:

https://youtu.be/ZMgxSV1jmk0

Best Practices to Support Mental Health for Children and Youth…Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety

Best Practices to Support Mental Health for Children and Youth…Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety

Part 3 of a 4 Part Series

Submitted by: Stacey Hannay, HPEC Comprehensive School Health

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health complaints in children and teens today, and it is often observed in classroom settings by teachers through a variety of behaviors and signs. Anxiety is a natural response to certain life stressors that people may experience every day. In healthy amounts, anxiety can be a motivational tool that helps people do their best and learn new skills. Anxiety can also protect us from danger. If anxiety lasts too long, however, or is too intense, it may begin to interfere with a child’s/youth’s life. By constantly worrying about things that are unlikely to happen, and by avoiding certain situations or activities for fear of bad things happening, problems can arise at school and with friends.

So how does a teacher differentiate? This series will assist teachers to distinguish between normal anxiety and anxiety that is no longer helpful or productive. It will help all teachers to identify signs that a child or adolescent is experiencing problems with anxiety, which have a negative effect on their schooling experience. Not to panic teachers… there is an App for that too, check out the MindShift.

MindShift™ CBT

https://anxietycanada.com/resources/mindshift-cbt/

Mental Health Literacy Series: https://www.cyfcaregivereducation.ca/videos

Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety

Caregiver Handout:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tZ3sv4Y99RZuT1lytsVVIzuCYBfYL-J9/view

Video:

https://youtu.be/wh2EgELKbDQ

How To Plan for Meaningful Physical Education (MPE)

Submitted by: Jodi Harding-Kuriger, HPEC President-Elect

“What distinguishes our conceptualization of pedagogies geared toward meaningful experiences from general

descriptions of “good” PE teaching and teacher education practice is that we position personally meaningful physical

activity participation as the main priority or filter for pedagogical decision-making. The MPE approach facilitates how

young people set goals and take action in physical activity settings to align with meanings that are both personal and

intrinsic. We will develop a set of evidence-based pedagogies that support how PE teachers foster physical activity experiences that are personally meaningful for children and youth.” https://meaningfulpe.wordpress.com/research/

Individualized planning yes, BUT common threads to consider:

# 1 -- KNOW YOUR STUDENTS

List/Share the Features - be open to additions from students
Co-create a meaningfulness scale with students
Shared language (eg. head, heart, hands, & spirit)

Social Interaction
- consider groupings - dynamics, choice,
- class culture
- alone and with others

- peda-logical choices for meaning

Fun

- aim for deeper than “fun” -- surface distraction

- aim for joy/delight -- FLOW

- less adult-controlled

- less structured

- Game-Centered Approach
- Sport Education Model

- vehicle for meaningfulness NOT the primary focus

Challenge

- appropriate level of challenge: relative difficulty of the task
- consider how competition is presented and valued

- focus on the challenge itself, the journey; not the outcome winning

Motor Competence

- students’ perception of motor competence is high = participation/motivation

- scaffolding for FMS, activity skills and strategies

Personally Relevant Learning

- GSA and SE
- link the learning outcomes with the activity with the current and future daily lives of students

- offer choice (equipment, groups, 

- reflect on experiences in PE

- identify the purpose, what they are learning and WHY

**PLAYFUL AESTHETIC INTERACTION of all the FEATURES; CULTURE; COMMUNITY; CONTEXT**

Teacher Reflection
- What did you change before/during/after the lesson?
- How did you gage meaningfulness?

Pedagogical Principles

Explicitly prioritise meaningful participation
- plan for meaningful activities
- explicitly share the what, how, and why with students

Model pedagogies that support meaningful participation
- make pedo-logical decisions → use teaching methods that facilitate meaningful experiences
E.g., TGfU, SE

Support engagement with features of meaningful participation as a learner and as a teacher

- make time to reflect and dialogue with the learners about the explicit features being considered during learning activities

Frame learning activities using features of meaningful participation
- share your decision making with students based on the MPE features

Support reflection on meaningfulness of physical education experiences

- make time to reflect during learning activities; allow students time to reflect during learning activities

- use a common language during discussions and reflections

Please visit: https://meaningfulpe.wordpress.com/ for more information on Meaningful Physical Education

Answering Student Questions When Teaching Sexual Health

Submitted by: Teaching Sexual Health, Alberta Health Services

Teaching sexual health can be intimidating, whether this is your first or twentieth year of teaching. A common fear is how to handle questions, especially ones you may not know the answer to.

TeachingSexualHealth.ca is here to help!

Making time for and responding to student questions is an important part of sexual health education. Encourage your students to ask questions during class and to use the Question Box.

The Question Box is a tool that enhances learning by allowing students to ask questions anonymously. Using a Question Box gives you time to review the questions to make sure that that you know the answers and that you’re comfortable answering them appropriately for the grade level you’re teaching.

To use a Question Box effectively, consider these tips:

·         Have every student write a question on identical slips of paper.

·        If someone doesn’t have anything to ask, they can write a comment about the lesson, draw a happy face or just write “No Question” on their slip of paper.

·        Collect the questions at the end of each lesson.

·         Read through the questions after class and prepare to answer them during the next lesson. This gives you a chance to confirm the answers, and get your own giggles or embarrassment out of the way beforehand.

When answering questions during the next class, or anytime a student asks a question in class:

·        Give affirmation to students for asking questions.

·        Define words, including slang and continue on using the correct terminology. For example, if a student’s question is “What is a homo?” you could say, “A homo or homosexual is a hurtful slang word used to put down people who have sexual or romantic attraction to people of the same sex.”

·        Answer the question clearly, objectively, factually and appropriately for each grade level. If the question is values-based, like “When is a good time to have sex?” talk about the many things that a person might consider when coming to their own decision about this issue, instead of imposing your own values on students.

·        Assume all questions, even shocking ones, are real questions. After all, they came from somewhere. It’s likely a genuine request for information, no matter how shocking it may be!

·        Check back in with students about how well your answers have answered the question. Consider finishing each answer with “If you still have questions about this topic, or I didn’t quite answer what you meant to ask, please ask again in today’s question box”.

If personal questions are asked, there is no need to read the question out loud or answer it. Say something like “There are two questions here about my personal sexual experience. I want to remind everyone of the ground rules we made on the first day about not discussing our personal experiences. I expect you all to follow that rule when submitting questions as well.”

For more about the types of questions asked by students, and strategies to answer them, see Responding to Student Questions.

For answers to commonly asked student questions, see our FAQs page.

And finally, consider signing up for a FREE online workshop to increase your comfort and confidence in teaching sexual health. These are offered four times a year for all Alberta teachers.

For questions or comments, contact tsh@ash.ca

Follow us!

Twitter: @teachsexhealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teachsexhealth/